A system and method for facilitating consignment and sales of inventory or services

ABSTRACT

A system and method for the facilitation of sales for items or services between vendors and buyers through an intermediary platform. The sale of these goods or services would be implemented utilizing a haggling process in which the intermediary and each individual buyer would bargain for a final sale price of that item. Generally, each of the vendors provides the intermediary with a retail sale price and a minimum sale price for each of the items. Thereafter, a buyer would counter the retail price for each of the items with an offer presumably below the retail price. Haggle tables are utilized to allow the intermediary to counter the buyer&#39;s initial offer as well as subsequent counter offers by the buyer. Once a sale price for the particular item or service is finalized, the item would be delivered or service rendered to the buyer and the vendors account with the intermediary would be credited to reflect this purchase.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to a system and method forfacilitating the sale of inventory and/or services on a consignmentbasis, for example, by utilizing the Internet, or other communicationdevices.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Historically, particularly in remote rural areas, sales persons orvendors traveled to their potential customers (whether retail, wholesaleor raw materials) utilizing a covered wagon to store their wares. Thecustomers would then examine these wares and the sale would beconsummated. While some of these goods might carry a stated pricetherewith, the customers could be encouraged to bargain with the salesperson before the sale was finalized. Likewise, buyers in need ofservices, for example, plumbing repair, carpentry, therapies, may seekout local vendors and often bargain over the price for the servicesbefore a sale is consummated.

The invention and utilization of motorized vehicles strikingly changedthe demographics of our country, allowing suburbs to spring up inproximity to urban areas. The use of these vehicles changed the mannerin which individuals would shop for goods or services. Rather than thesales person coming to the customers, individualized stores, shoppingcenters, and specialized service providers were established in which thecustomers traveled to these sales outlets. Based upon the size of theestablishment as well as the personnel employed by the sellers, thestated sale price of a particular item could not be changed by the salesperson and bargaining or haggling over this sales price was eitherdiscouraged or totally eliminated.

However, evolving technology has again altered the manner in which thebuying public purchases various goods or services. This change inpurchasing habits has also been precipitated by the change in the way oflife of the purchasing public. For example, a large number of bothpartners in a marriage now work full time. When children are added tothis couple's family, schedules can become very hectic. Therefore, manypeople are having a very difficult time finding sufficient time tocomparatively shop or even travel to brick and mortar outlets to examineand purchase items. More and more of these brick and mortar stores areutilizing mail order catalogs to display their goods and to prompt thebuyers to order these goods over the telephone.

Another change of technology which has altered the manner in which thepublic purchases goods or services would be the Internet. Virtually anycompany of even a modicum size has developed their own web pagesallowing individuals to purchase goods or services on-line. Thesepurchases would then be sent to the purchaser's residences withoutrequiring the purchaser to travel to the brick and mortar establishment.Or, if a service, the customer would more conveniently and economicallyhave the needed services provided to them.

The Internet also allows for the purchase of goods generated by asecondary market such as items owned by an individual and not theoriginal vendor. Rather than leaving these unneeded but still usableitems to waste or to consignment stores for sale, a number of Internetwebsites are dedicated to the sale of these items, including the sale ofcollectibles. U.S. Pat. No. 6,108,639, issued to Walker et al, describessuch an operation. This patent is directed to a system and method forprocessing the sale of a secondary market item. An intermediary companywould act as a vehicle allowing sellers to advertise various items onthe Internet which can be purchased by respective buyers. Theintermediary company would operate a website to illustrate the items forsale as well as include a purchase price. If a particular buyer wishesto purchase one or more of these sale items, the sale can be consummatedover the Internet. Once this sale is consummated, a legally bindingcontract has been forged between the buyer and the seller. At thispoint, that item would be transported to the buyer and the seller wouldbe properly compensated. It is noted that his patent contemplates theuse of bargaining over the purchase price between a vendor and thebuyer, with the intermediary working to coordinate the sale,negotiation, and consummation of each transaction.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The deficiencies of the prior art are addressed by the present inventionwhich is directed to a system and method for sales of inventory throughan intermediary, by facilitating a transaction between buyers andvendors directly or indirectly by means of electronic or digitalcommunication. Although the present invention contemplates theutilization of a consignment technique, it should not be so limited andother types of sales relationships could be employed between theintermediary and the vendors. A number of vendors would advertise theirgoods or services through a website and/or platform developed by theintermediary. The intermediary would display images, descriptions,marketing material, and attributes of the products or services vendorswish to sell. Additionally, each of the vendors may include a suggestedretail price to be associated with each of the items for sale. When apotential buyer contacts the intermediary by either logging on to theintermediary's website, by telephone, or wireless device, in conjunctionwith a sales catalog, the buyer would have the potential to negotiateover and purchase and/or order the goods or services advertised by oneor more of the vendors. Although each of the advertised goods orservices may include a suggested retail price, the present inventionwould contemplate that a haggling process can be entered into betweenthe buyer and the vendor. The vendor must also inform the intermediaryof a minimum sale price for each of the items. The intermediary wouldcreate or be provided with a haggle table used to produce counter offersto each of the buyer's offers. This haggling or bargaining process wouldcontinue until a final offer is made by either the buyer or the seller.At this point, if the buyer or seller accepts either parties' finaloffer, a sale would be consummated and the particular sales item orservice would be delivered from the vendor to the buyer. It is importantto note that none of the items could be sold at a price lower than theminimum sale price without the vendor's prior authorization.

Since many of the vendors utilizing the system of the present inventionwould be brick and mortar stores in which inventory can be depleted bysales consummated at the sellers' premises, either over the telephone,or with buyers traveling to the brick and mortar stores, it would beimportant for the operation of the present invention to insure that eachof the vendors would be in a position to supply the sales which would bemade over the intermediary's system. Therefore, each of the vendorswould be required to maintain a separate “virtual” inventory and anin-store inventory. The intermediary would inform that particular vendorwhen the virtual inventory has been depleted and automatically defaultto the conditional purchase feature. The conditional purchase featureenables a customer to place an advance order for the desired, but “outof stock” or unavailable good or service. In recognition of the buyer'sadvance order, the vendor may implement an incentive price or discountfrom the suggested retail price or create any other incentive to attractadvance orders. Furthermore, if this virtual inventory has not beendepleted but the in-store inventory has been depleted, the vendor wouldbe able to apportion the virtual inventory to fulfill sales for thevendor's brick and mortar establishment.

Although it is contemplated that the major areas of coordination betweenthe buyers and the intermediary would be over the Internet or wirelessservice, other types of communication could be used. For example, theintermediary could be equipped with a voice recognition system allowingthe haggling process to be undertaken over the telephone with the voicerecognition system having access to the haggle table so that propercounteroffers would be presented to the potential buyers.

Alternatively, a vendor could directly interact with the customer toproduce a counter offer without the use of the voice recognition system,for example, by e-mails through the intermediary.

Additional features of the present invention as well as a more detaileddescription of the invention will be illustrated with respect to theaccompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a partof this specification, which illustrates several embodiments of theinvention, and together with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of the system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of a portion of the invention showingthe allocation of the inventory;

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating the haggle method according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating the reverse haggle methodaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating this bulk the haggle methodaccording to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

As indicated hereinabove, one of the purposes of the system and methodof the present invention is reflective of the fact that buyers areendeavoring to reduce the time and effort required in the shoppingprocess in which repeated trips must be made to stores and the mall tocompetitively purchase various goods and services. While the presentinvention addresses some deficiencies of the prior art by providing anInternet/telephonic/wireless platform in which a number of vendors can,on a consignment basis or through other type of business relationship,offer their new and used goods or services for sale to a number ofbuyers, it should be noted that the system and method of the presentinvention is primarily to be used as a supplement for brick and mortarsales as well as for consummating sales over the telephone and wirelessmediums. Because the system and method of the present invention wouldallow many sales of goods and services to be completed largelyautomatically, the sales force employed by each of the respectivevendors would be made more efficient, thereby providing an exceptionalopportunity for small and mid-sized businesses to compete for sales on anational level. On a broader basis, distributors, wholesalers, andsuppliers of all types may utilize the present invention to manage theirsupply chain and distribution to retailers on a more individualizedmanner.

The system 10 of the present invention which would accomplish this endis illustrated in FIG. 1. A plurality of vendors 12, 14 and 16 would usean intermediary 18 as a platform for displaying their goods and servicesfor sale to a plurality of buyers 20, 22 and 24. Although a largeportion of the present invention contemplates the utilization of theInternet/telephonic/wireless services as a sales platform whereby theintermediary develops a website or sales platform, other types ofcommerce could also employ the present invention. For example, insteadof presenting the goods and services over theInternet/telephonic/wireless, the intermediary 18 could be utilized inconjunction with a voice recognition system in which goods or servicesincluded in a circular or mail order catalog for sale by the vendors 12,14 and 16 are sent to various buyers.

FIG. 2 illustrates a more detailed description of the system and methodof the present invention than is shown in FIG. 1, in which a vendor 16and a buyer 24 utilize the intermediary 18 to consummate a sale. Sinceit is contemplated that many of the vendors would utilize the system andmethod of the present invention to augment their brick and mortar sales,it is important that inventory be tightly controlled. Therefore, thepresent invention contemplates a reserve method in which each of thevendors reserve at a minimum, one item in a virtual inventory 26. Thevendor's remaining inventory is relegated to an in-store inventory 28.The vendor will then be able to directly manage and regulate inventoryusing on-line store management functions; and/or the conditionalpurchase feature. Items need not be taken out of the vendor's generalinventory and the vendor would need only to regulate his/her in-storeinventory so that sufficient virtual inventory is available for on-linesale through the present invention. Should an item reserved for on-linesale be needed to fill an in-store sale, the vendor must notify theintermediary (such as by phone or by the Internet). When this occurs,that particular item would default to a conditional purchase featurewhich is designed to salvage what otherwise might be a lost sale. Abuyer faced with an “out-of-stock” item is offered the opportunity toorder the desired item with delivery made shortly after restocking bythat vendor. The vendor would still have the opportunity to sell thisitem through a straight purchase or haggled method, as describedhereinbelow, with an optional discount for the buyer's inconvenience.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, communication is provided between theintermediary 18 and the virtual inventory 26 in a bi-directional mannerallowing the intermediary to inform the vendors of the number of itemsin the virtual inventory 26. Therefore, the vendor would be made awareof the depletion of the virtual inventory 26, allowing the vendor toorder or produce more inventory, some of which would be designated asvirtual inventory. Likewise, the vendor would inform the intermediarywhen the vendor is forced to move items from the virtual inventory 26 tothe in-store inventory to finalize a sale within the vendor's in-storelocation. This communication between the vendor 16 and the intermediary18 could be lessened dramatically if the intermediary is authorized tomanage the vendor's entire inventory. For example, if the vendoroperates multiple outlets at more than one physical sales location, theinventory control system would track the independent virtual inventoryas well as the physical inventory of each of the vendors for eachlocation. Additionally, if the nearest store's inventory is depleted,the inventory control system would direct a purchase order to any otherlocation with sufficient inventory. This would help regulate a chainstore's sales through the intermediary and coordinate delivery of thesold item.

The platform of the intermediary 18 would be managed by computer systemscontrolled by a processor 30. The processor would include, among otherfeatures, a memory 32 provided with software for operating the systemand method according to the present invention as well as a haggle table34 to control the bargaining process and a voice recognition system 35.

Although it is contemplated that most communication between the buyersand the intermediary would be through the use of the buyer's personalcomputer, telephone or wireless device, it is realized that not everybuyer has access to a personal computer. Consequently, the voicerecognition system 35 would allow each buyer to haggle with theintermediary over the phone. Furthermore, the voice recognition systemitself can be eliminated and an electronic exchange could occur betweenthe buyer and the vendor to negotiate a purchase price for a particularitem.

The generalized method of the present invention 36 is illustrated inFIG. 3. The intermediary would sign up various vendors at step 38 asparticipants in the system and method of the present invention or,license its use for proprietary use. This sign-up process could occur inone or more geographic areas. A consignment or other type of salesagreement would be signed between the intermediary 18 and the vendors togive the legal rights to sell or provide a buyer the opportunity to buya selected number of the vendor's inventory through the various web andtelephonic methods. Information such as product images, pricing pointsand other information pertinent to each of the items for sale would beprovided to the intermediary by each of the vendors or incorporated intothe vendor's proprietary system if licensed. Alternatively, theintermediary, based upon information provided by the vendors, couldprovide this information directly to the buyers. The information wouldthen be translated into a presentable form for virtual sales over theInternet and for computerized voice-recognition catalog sales, orthrough wireless mediums.

The intermediary would also compile a directory including variousinformation provided from each of the vendors. This information couldinclude, but is not limited to, the business name, location information,contact information, a link to the intermediary platform as well as daysand hours of operation for the vendor's store locations. Theintermediary would operate utilizing a comprehensive search engine andsales assistance known as “Tesa” which would be able to specificallysearch through the consignment database of goods and services for abuyer's necessities. The search can be done based upon any combinationof listed search criteria such as price ranges, quality of goods andservices, physical parameters (if applicable), model number, location,and type of item or natural language search. Tesa would sift through theconsignment database for suitable items to display to the buyer for apotential sale. The search can occur in rounds to help narrow down anitem, or all at once to allow the buyer an opportunity to “window shop”.Although it has been found that Tesa would operate very efficiently withthe system and method of the present invention, other search enginescould also be employed.

The vendor provides the intermediary with the product specification atstep 40. The virtual inventory is determined at step 42, these itemswould be then consigned to the intermediary at step 44 for sales to thevarious potential buyers. Although FIG. 3 illustrates a consignment ofgoods from the vendor to the intermediary, it is acknowledged that othertypes of sale arrangements can be used, including licensing theinvention for proprietary use.

At this point, the intermediary 18 would give the opportunity to one ormore of the buyers to purchase any of the items in the virtual inventoryof any of the vendors. This purchase could be consummated in the usualmanner in which a retail price associated with each of the items forsale must be met by the buyer. Alternatively, according to the systemand method of the present invention, the suggested retail sales price orno price could be used as a starting point for a bargaining or hagglingprocess to be commenced between the vendor and the buyer at step 46.Once this bargaining process has been completed, thereby resulting inthe sale of the particular product at a haggled price at step 48, thebuyer would pay the intermediary at step 50. At this point, the itemwould be shipped to the buyer at step 52 and the intermediary would paythe vendor at step 54. Upon any sale, the item is immediately deductedfrom the vendor's virtual inventory and payment is processed directly tothe vendor's demand deposit account or other banking arrangements, asper a service agreement between the vendor and the intermediary.Alternatively, the amount could be credited to the vendor's intermediaryaccount.

Once the buyer has paid the intermediary at step 50, the vendor would beimmediately notified using various direct links known in the art such asfaxes, e-mails, voice mails or the like of that particular purchase. Thevendor must then follow a prescribed procedure to confirm receipt of theorder and that processing is underway. The vendor would then confirm thesale to the intermediary and immediately packages the item for pick upby a courier or by customer instore, in their appropriate manner ofbusiness. Thereafter, and upon confirmation that the purchase item isreceived by the courier or buyer, payment is finalized. Since it iscontemplated that the present invention would result in extensive use ofa courier service, the intermediary would have the ability to negotiatebulk rates and to develop relationships with major courier companies.Eventually, the lowest courier rate can automatically be assessed with aparticular courier. Alternatively, the vendor itself would determine theparticular courier which is utilized. Payment for shipping can bedesignated to either the vendor or the buyer depending upon the retailindustries practice or at vendor's or buyer's option. It is noted thathigher priced items are better able to absorb a shipping charge and thusmerchants may more readily pay for shipping on such items. A furtheralternative is that the buyer would elect to pick up the purchased itemdirectly from the store regardless of the fact that the sale wasfinalized on-line. The information included in the aforementioneddirectory will be tied to this sales feature and would allow the localbuyers to centralize a search to buy items from their local retailers.

The present invention in which a consignment sale is effectuated betweena vendor and a buyer could utilize three different types of salestechniques. The first technique would be the straight sale in which thevendors would offer their items for sale at a fixed price with possiblesales or promotional discounts. The second type would be the auctionformat adopted by various companies such as Yahoo or E-Bay in which anumber of sellers bid among themselves for a particular item offered bya single vendor. The third method of producing a sale, according to thepresent invention, would be to employ a haggling or bargaining techniquein which a single buyer would haggle with a single vendor to determinethe sales price of a single item.

This third technique 56 is illustrated in FIG. 4. It is contemplatedthat this haggling process would automatically be conducted utilizingthe intermediary's platform such as its website. Therefore, a haggletable must be constructed at step 58. The haggle table is anartificially created reference chart used to calculate theintermediary's counter offers to a buyer's offer or offers. It can becreated to suit each of the particular industries utilizing the systemand method of the present invention. Therefore, since a plurality ofvendors would utilize this system, it is contemplated that several ofthese haggle tables would be constructed and would be simultaneouslymaintained by the intermediary. Consequently, although FIG. 4illustrates the use of a single haggle table, it is noted that a numberof these haggle tables would be included in the memory of theintermediary. A standard industry model which the intermediary wouldconstruct could be used as a default unless the vendor elects to utilizean alternative for his/her own transactions. Eventually, these haggletables can be made to reflect different haggling techniques. It isimportant to note, however, that the haggle tables are flexible to suitany negotiating technique by simply re-setting the benchmark numbersrelied upon for the intermediary's counter offers. It is also importantto note that the particular haggle table can be created with eachparticular vendor's input.

Once the haggle table is constructed and included into the memory of theintermediary's platform, and the vendor has applied the retail benchmarkprice for each of the items offered for sale or the item is “up forbidding” (no suggested retail price provided) at step 60, negotiationsbetween the vendor and the buyer can be commenced to stimulate anexchange and promote sales. At this point, the buyer would make acounter offer to the suggested retail price through the intermediary'splatform at step 62 for a particular item. Since it is important that abase benchmark price be established under which that particular itemwould not be sold, the vendor would also supply to the intermediary aminimum sales price for each of the retail items which would also beincluded in the intermediary's database and algorithms.

The intermediary notes whether minimum exchanges have occurred at step64. At this point, the buyer may be given the option to present a finalcounter offer at step 65 A. The buyer is usually permitted to make afinal offer after the first round of haggling has ended. FIG. 4demonstrates the final offer function at the instance of a transaction,however, this option may be enabled after a designed number of minimumexchanges has occurred between the transacting parties.

Therefore, the buyer and vendor could not present each other a finaloffer until they have attempted to haggle a certain number of times. Ifthe final offer function is only engaged after a designated number ofminimum exchanges in step 64, the transaction proceeds directly fromstep 62 to step 68. But, once the final offer option is enabled, thetransaction proceeds from step 62 to step 64 and so on. This functionpermits the transacting parties to efficiently determine if a sale canbe made. If the buyer elects to present a final offer, the intermediarydetermines whether the buyer's final offer is greater than the minimumsale price at step 65 B. If it is greater, the buyer may consummate thesale at step 65 C. If the buyer's offer is less than the minimum saleprice, the haggling ceases without consummating the sale at step 65 D.

The present invention would, at step 68, calculate a desired discountamount (DDA) and a most discount offered (MDO). The desired discountamount is determined by subtracting the buyer's offer from the statedretail price. The most discount offered is determined by subtracting theminimum sale price from the stated retail price. The haggle tableassociated with the particular item for sale would be referenced at eachround/exchange of haggling for the desired discount amount to determinea discount haggle (DH) at step 70. The discount haggle is a randomnumber from a determined percent number range that the intermediarydetermines. This discount haggle is multiplied by the most discountoffered to determine an amount which would be subtracted from the statedretail price which would then constitute a counter offer at step 72. Atthis point, the buyer is presented with the counter offer at step 75 andis then free to purchase the item at that price or continue haggling atstep 76 until the intermediary or the buyer make a final offer. If thebuyer continues to haggle, the intermediary would replace the statedretail price with a prevailing haggle price for that item and continuesthe haggling processing as described herein using that prevailing haggleprice at each successive exchange.

Additionally, the intermediary will maintain a running count or tally ofthe successive most discount offered which would involve maintaining aseparate and constant record of the most discount offered from theinception of the haggling and subtracting the most discount offered fromthe product of the most discount offered discount haggle for every roundof haggling at step 73. When the most discount offered reaches zero oris within a designated number range, above the minimum sale price asshown by steps 73 A and 73 B, the intermediary can issue a final offerto the buyer. The running count is an internal record of the remainingmost discount offered from the start of the haggling and subtracting theproduct of the discount haggle multiplied by the most discount offeredat every exchange between the buyer and the vendor. Please note that themost discount offered represents the highest dollar discount theintermediary is authorized to negotiate with the buyer. When it reacheszero, only the minimum sale price remains to be offered. At that priceor within a given range thereto, the intermediary can make a final offerto the buyer for the desired item. At step 75, the buyer is presentedwith the final offer determined at step 72, and at step 76, the buyer isgiven the opportunity to consummate the sale or reject the offer andterminate the transaction between the buyer and the vendor for thatparticular item. Also, if the final offer is made by the buyer andwithin a designated dollar range of the minimum sale price, theintermediary may forward the offer directly to the vendor for acceptanceor rejection. But, if the vendor does not respond within a certain timeperiod, the final offer is deemed rejected.

Because of the possibility of unfairness to the vendor or the buyer, theintermediary may impose artificial restrictions on the successivehaggling process so that the counter offers remain orderly. For example,a successive haggle price by the buyer made at or below the first haggleprice or any subsequent haggle price, may trigger a modified counteroffer from the intermediary. If this occurs, the intermediary canrespond by reiterating the last haggle price and/or noting theunfairness. Alternatively, the present invention could continue hagglingbased on buyer's last counter offer and irrespective of the unfairness,but so long as the final sale price is above the minimum sale price.Finally, a search engine, such as Tesa, could be employed to search foran item of comparable value to the unfair counter offer. Furthermore,since the buyer might be aware of the existence of the minimum saleprice and therefore would continue to haggle to endeavor to obtain thislowest possible price, a final offer could be triggered after apredetermined number of exchanges have been made between the buyer andthe intermediary for a particular item.

Although it is contemplated that the haggle system of bargaining beconducted strictly between the buyer and the intermediary, based uponvarious restrictions which might be imposed by the vendor, it ispossible to permit a direct exchange with the vendor. Although it mightnot be advisable for the vendor to personally respond to every round ofhaggling because of the difficulty in managing such an operation,certain vendors may find a direct exchange with the vendor helpful fortheir industry.

An example illustrating the haggling process shown in FIG. 4 will now begiven. If the buyer counters with a $75 offer for an item listed at aretail price of $110 and a minimum sales price designated at $90, theintermediary would initially determine the desired discount amount whichwould be ($110-$75) which would equal $35. The intermediary has alreadydetermined that the most desired (MDO) would be $25 ($110-$90). Checkingthe haggle table for the desired discount amount of $35 for that item orservice, the intermediary may therefore only negotiate the determinedamount of the most discount offered in accordance with the haggle tablecriteria. A random number corresponding to the desired discount amountis determined (the discount haggle) from the haggle table and ismultiplied by the most discount offered. Assuming that the random numberchosen is 23.5% and that the most discount offered of $25 is utilized,then the counter offer would be $25×23.5% or $5.87 minus the statedretail price of $110 resulting in a counter offer of $104.13. Theintermediary would then confirm that the intermediary's offering priceis above the minimum sale price and whether a final offer isappropriate. If this is the case, the intermediary would counter offerto the buyer an amount of $104.13. At this point, the buyer is free topurchase the item at that price or continue haggling until theintermediary makes an acceptable a final offer or haggling ceases due toloss of interest. If the buyer continues to haggle, the intermediaryreplaces the stated retail price with the prevailing haggle price forthat item and the minimum sale price is then subtracted from theprevailing price to determine the current most discount offered, and therunning count for the most discount offered is updated.

Both the buyer and the intermediary are able to make a final offer toeach other using this process. The buyer may do so at any time duringthe haggling process with some systemic limitations. This would simplyrequire inputting the desired price and clicking on a final offer iconif the Internet is utilized. The intermediary would determine whetherthis amount is above the minimum sale price and would respondaccordingly.

The intermediary could issue a final offer upon depletion of the mostdiscount offered or at a point which the prevailing price of an item iswithin a desired range to the minimum sale price. This would be achievedafter successive haggling and vendors or the intermediary may alsodesignate a period when a final offer must be made in order to move theprocess along. It is important to note that the final offer does notnecessarily have to be the minimum sale price. The intermediary maypresent a final offer within a given percentage or dollar amount aboveor, if authorized, below the minimum sale price.

FIG. 5 illustrates an alternative 78 to the haggling process describedin relation to FIG. 4. This alternative is characterized as a reversehaggling process. This process permits a vendor to allow a buyer tostart the haggling process with their own offer for a good or service.In this process, the vendor would display an item or service for salewithout a price and the buyer would then offer a price for that item. Toassist the buyer in determining at least an initial offer price, theintermediary may display the average selling price of that particularitem which was reached based upon previous haggling of that item withother buyers. As shown at step 80, a reverse haggle table would beconstructed. At this point, the buyer would make an offer to theintermediary at step 82. The intermediary would determine and verify ifminimum exchanges occurred at step 84. The intermediary would thendetermine if the buyer made a final offer at step 85 A. If so, theintermediary confirms whether the final offer is above the minimum saleprice at step 85 B.

The sale is consummated with the buyer, at step 85 C, if the buyer'sfinal offer is above the minimum sale price. However, if the buyer'sfinal offer is below the minimum sales price, the intermediary rejectsthe final offer and terminates the sale in a prescribed manner at step85 D. The desired discount amount is referenced to the reverse haggletable to determine the discount haggle at step 90. The intermediarywould then multiply the discount haggle with the most discount offeredand then subtract that result from the suggested retail price todetermine the intermediary's counter offer at step 92.

At step 93 A, the intermediary determines whether the most discountoffered is zero or within the intermediary's final offer range. If so,the intermediary confirms that the final offer is above the minimum saleprice at step 93 B. If the intermediary's final offer is above theminimum sale price, the intermediary presents the final offer to thebuyer and waits a designated time period for the buyer's response atstep 96. The buyer may consummate the sale at step 85 C, reject finaloffer and terminate the transaction at step 85 D, or the transactionterminates after the designated time period expires at step 85 D.

During this process, the desired discount amount and the most discountoffered are determined at step 88. If the intermediary's final offer isnot above the minimum sale price at step 93 B, the intermediary presentsthe buyer with the intermediary's offer, derived at step 92, as theintermediary's final offer. The buyer may then accept/agree to the finaloffer or reject it at step 96. If accepted, the buyer consummates thetransaction at step 85 C; or if rejected, the sale is terminated at step85 D. If the most discount offered is not zero or within the final offerrange, this counter offer would be presented to the buyer at step 95 andthe buyer may accept/agree to the counter offer; reject and terminate;or reject and counter offer at step 96. If the buyer accepts/agrees, thetransaction is consummated at step 85 C.

If the buyer rejects the offer and terminates, the transaction isterminated at step 85 D. Or, if the buyer rejects the offer and makes asubsequent offer, the haggling process returns to step 82, until thetransaction is consummated or terminated. The vendor may require aminimum number of exchanges between the buyer and the seller to permitthe haggling process would continue, but risks losing the buyer'sinterest.

FIG. 6 illustrates another embodiment to the haggle process shown inFIG. 4. Consequently, we have included similar reference numerals. Thisalternative 98 creates a bulk haggling scenario which would enablebuyers of multiple items associated with one or more of the vendors tocounter offer a total price off the calculated stated retail price ofall of the items. As was true with respect to FIG. 4, a haggle table isconstructed at step 58. This haggle table consists of the exact table ortables created with respect to the algorithm of FIG. 4. If a buyerselects multiple goods to be purchased, the intermediary would providethe buyer with a total retail price for all the goods, as well asinternally calculates the total minimum sale prices at step 102 to formthe required pricing points to haggle. The buyer would then make anoffer to the intermediary for all of the goods at step 104. At thistime, the intermediary would determine whether the offer is greater thanthe total minimum sale price and would determine whether minimalexchange has occurred at step 64. If this is not the case, the desireddiscount amount as well as the most discount offered or most percentagediscount offered for each of the items would be determined at step 68and the comparison similar to what is described with respect to FIG. 4is made at step 70. The discount haggle is multiplied by the mostdiscount offered and subtracted from the total retail price to determinethe counter offer at step 72. A counter offer is then made and hagglingis either discontinued and a sale consummated or the haggling wouldcontinue in a similar manner. If the buyer's offer to the intermediaryat step 104 is greater than the total minimum sale price, the sale ofall of the items could be consummated at that point or, similar to thescenario described with respect to FIG. 4, if the vendor or vendorswould insist upon a predetermined number of exchanges between the buyerand seller, the haggling process would continue. It is noted that eachof the vendors would have an option as to whether they wish to engage inthis bulk haggling feature. By aggregating potential discounts, vendorswill have the opportunity to institute a cooperative selling method andprovide larger total discounts to the buyers, thereby benefiting bothbuyers and vendors by creating incentives to buy and sell more items.

Particularly if more than one vendor is involved in the bulk hagglingprocess, it is important to partition the discount haggle for each ofthe purchase items which is shown at step 120. This is necessary sincethere is a potential for the buyer to return one or more items of thetotal number of items purchased utilizing this method. Should a buyerdesire to return one or more of the bulk haggled items, a definitiveprice must be stated to permit credit or exchange.

This cooperative selling method aggregates the total most discountoffered to potentially award a larger overall discount on the totalpurchase. The buyer can take advantage of the aggregate most discountoffered and maximize the buyer's discount haggle to thereby helpconsummate sales at a maximum value. The intermediary would maintain arunning count of the total discount haggle and calculate at what priceeach item is finally sold by determining the individual discount haggle.The intermediary is also able to provide a final sale price for eachitem by first apportioning from the total sale price the minimum saleprice for each purchased item and then calculating and apportioning thedollar value of the remaining individual discount haggle on top of theminimum sale price. The individual dollar value of the discount haggleis derived by calculating the individual most discount offered for thatitem and dividing it by the aggregate most discount offered giving theportion of the discount that item offers to the bulk haggle andmultiplying that amount by the amount above the aggregate minimum saleprice. This amount of the aggregate minimum sale price equals the totalfinal sale price minus the aggregate minimum sale price of the desireditems to be purchased. Note that the final sale price must always beabove the aggregate minimum sale price since no individual item may besold below its minimum sale price.

In all of the embodiments discussed, the most discount offered isconstantly updated after each round of haggling to reflect the amount ofdiscount haggled (discount already negotiated) by the buyer in thepreceding rounds of haggling. Additionally, the running count of eachand every negotiation is valuable for business and marketing analysisand study, as well as a means to trigger a final offer from theintermediary.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made to the system and method of thepresent invention without departing from the scope or spirit of theinvention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover themodifications and variations of this invention provided that they comewithin the scope of the claims and their equivalents.

1-25. (canceled)
 26. A method of facilitating the sale of goods orservices offered from at least one vendor to at least one buyer throughan intermediary platform, in communication with the vendors and thebuyers comprising the steps of: each of the vendors providing theintermediary platform with descriptive information relating to each ofthe goods or services offered by the respective vendor, said descriptiveinformation including a minimum sales price for each of the goods orservices; constructing at least one haggle table, said haggle tablestored in a memory device associated with a processor located at theintermediary platform; initiating a haggle process by a buyercommunicating a first offered price for a first of the goods or servicesto the intermediary platform; the intermediary platform comparing saidfirst offered price to said minimum sales price of said first of thegoods or services; and consummating the sale of said first of the goodsor services of said first offered price is greater than, or equal to,said minimum sales price of said first of the goods or services.
 27. Themethod in accordance with claim 26, further including the steps of:continuing said haggle process if said first offered price is less thansaid minimum price of said first of the goods or services with theintermediary platform determining a counter offer utilizing said offeredprice, said minimum sales price and said haggle table; presenting saidcounter offer to the buyer; and further continuing said haggle processuntil a final offer is accepted or no additional counter offers are madeby the buyer or vendor.
 28. (canceled)
 29. The method in accordance withclaim 26 wherein the sale of said first of the goods or services isconsummated only after a predetermined number of offers and counteroffers between the buyer and said intermediary have been exhausted. 30.The method in accordance with claim 27 wherein the sale of said first ofthe goods or services is consummated only after a predetermined numberof offers and counter offers between the buyer and said intermediaryhave been exhausted. 31-40. (canceled)